A teenager has been accidentally shot dead by his friend, police in the US said.
The two teenagers, aged 13 and 15, left their homes in the early hours of Saturday morning before meeting up in a church car park in their home town of Salt Lake City, Utah.
West Jordan Police Lieutenant Richard Bell said one of the boys had a gun and it went off accidentally and killed the 13-year-old.
The 15-year-old called emergency services immediately, terrified and desperate to get help for his friend, the police officer said.
It is not clear how the boys got hold of the firearm but Lt Bell did say that they had not known it was loaded.
In comments reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, he said: “As we began investigating and digging into this case to determine what had happened, really what we found is that it was just a truly unfortunate tragic accident.”
The older boy has been taken to a juvenile detention centre on suspicion of manslaughter.
Lt Bell said: “I think a good takeaway from this to gun owners is to make sure your firearms are secured and that your firearms and ammunition are stored away from each other.
“What this was earlier this morning was a series of, frankly, poor decisions made by some adolescents that two families are now going to have to deal with for the rest of their lives.”
